Pepe and Stellini probed in match-fixing trial
Reuters - Thursday 07 June 2012, 11:21
Juventus winger Simone Pepe and his
manager Antonio Conte's technical assistant Cristian Stellini
are among the latest names to be called for questioning on
Thursday in the match-fixing trial that has rocked Italy.
Thirty seven people have so far been called up by federal
prosecutors in the second round of "calcioscommesse" investigations, which has led to the arrest of several
high-profile players, including Lazio captain Stefano Mauri.
In addition to the arrests, a police raid of Italy's
pre-Euro 2012 training camp led to defender Domenico Crescito
being dropped from the squad after he was put under an official
police investigation.
Stellini also worked under Conte during his time at Siena in
the 2010/11 season, when the pair led the Tuscan side to
promotion to Serie A.
In April, it was reported that Filippo Carobbio, who played
under them during that season, claimed that both Conte and
Stellini were aware of at least one match being fixed for a
betting syndicate.
It is not yet clear why Pepe, who did not make the Italy
squad for the Euro 2012 tournament starting on Friday, has been
called by prosecutors, but the pair will be questioned on June
13.
The latest Italian football scandal led Prime Minister Mario
Monti to suggest it might be a good idea to suspend soccer for
two years and national team coach Cesare Prandelli admit that he
would have no problem if his side were kicked out of Euro 2012.
The first round of sentence recommendations saw Pescara and
Atalanta handed two-point deductions for next season, while
Sampdoria and Siena were handed 50,000 euro fines and relegated
Serie B side AlbinoLeffe a whopping 27-point deduction.
UEFA President Michel Platini added that penalties for
players found guilty of fixing matches should be severe.
"There should be zero tolerance for anyone found to be
guilty - they should never play again," the French former
Juventus midfielder said at a news conference on Wednesday.
More revelations look set to emerge with ANSA reporting that
prosecutors in Cremona have "devastating" information regarding
the 2011 Sampdoria v Genoa derby, in particular for former Genoa
player Omar Milanetto, now at Serie B side Padova.
"It will have a devastating effect and Milanetto is
involved," says a document which the Italian news agency claims
is a transcription of prosecutor Roberto di Martino's words from
May 8.
"It will be the worst thing to come out so far in this
investigation."